Eintracht Frankfurt vs Royale Union SG prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Play Offs betting tips on match 2024-02-21 20:00.
Eintracht Frankfurt will be hoping this is a case of history repeating itself as far as their UEFA Europa Conference League knockout round play-off tie against Royale Union SG is concerned. Their two previous appearances in the first knockout round of a European competition – Europa League Round of 32 in 2019/20 and 2018/19 – saw them advance to the last 16 with the exact same scorelines (2-2 away and 4-1 at home).
So the 2021/22 Europa League winners are seemingly in the box seat after their 2-2 draw in Belgium, especially as they were triumphant in two of their three home group stage games of this campaign. Perhaps it’s worth noting that their most recent UEFA home outing was the sole exception when they went down 2-1 against Greek club PAOK, but they have since steadied themselves by winning three of their four Bundesliga home games played since (D1).
Union have a score to settle after a German side eliminated them from the quarter-finals of last season’s Europa League, despite also drawing the first leg, against Bayer Leverkusen on that occasion 1-1. Their impressive comeback against Frankfurt in the first clash even surprised head coach Alexander Blessin, who admitted he expected it to be a “dark evening” when they initially fell behind 2-0 within the first ten minutes.
Now they will aim to really turn the table, but Union’s progression will likely be dependent on achieving something they failed to do on foreign soil throughout their entire Europa League group stage – score at least one goal (D1, L2). But they should take some confidence from the fact they didn’t lose any of their three trips to Germany last season (W1, D2), adding further intrigue to what looks set to be a fascinating second leg.
Players to watch: Frankfurt’s Farès Chaïbi recorded the game’s highest Flashscore player rating in the first leg when he added a goal and an assist to his already impressive European total (G2, A5) for this season. Union’s Mathias Rasmussen followed up his goal in the first leg with another one at the weekend, while he also scooped Flashscore’s top rating in that contest.
Hot stat: Six of Union’s last seven away games in all competitions saw both teams score on the day.